Masteries

Offense:
21

Defense:
0

Utility:
9

Introduction

My first and probably last guide but I think i've come up with a good build for Talon.

I see a lot of people getting items for slow(Phage / Frozen Mallet) ASAP for Talon for that added 10% damage bonus(passive) which usually sees them losing out in a lot of other areas which really hurts their late game and farming capabilities. I don't know why people are obsessed with that added damage when they could be getting much more out of other items and deal more damage without the passive bonus.

So, here's my guide and I hope you get some use out of it. Feel free to comment and give feedback, much welcomed.

My Thoughts

Talon is an assassin. He's never one to initiate a battle and should almost ALWAYS come in around two to three seconds after a team battle is initiated and pick his targets before engaging. The way I look at it is if you can take down one enemy and die because of it in team fights then you've done your bit but hopefully that won't happen.

As an assassin you should always go for the squishy enemies(Casters ranged dps and melee DPS) and know you generally can't take on more than one enemy no matter how fed you are unless they're under leveled and under geared or they have no stun or silence effects so you can use your ulti to safely exit battle. Playing as Talon requires you know your targets and know who you can not fight unless you're sure you can take them on, generally you keep away from tanky enemies.

Runes

Nothing really interesting here. Feel free to do whatever you normally would with melee DPS champions. Personally the Quintessence of Fortitude really helps you out early game, giving you much needed survivability in the form of added health(You should have around 700 health with Doran's Blade).

Seals and Glyphs of Might because they really do make a difference late game and Marks of Desolation for obvious reasons.

Items

Here we go. I think a lot of people would want to know why I chose these items when Talon's passive adds 10% damage to slowed enemies. I'll explain this.

There's a lot better out there for Talon than slow. If you get Zeal and Beserker Boots you'll be able to farm without trouble, just auto attack and you'll pick up every minion kill. This also gives you considerable movement speed so you can run from top lane to mid lane or bottom lane to mid lane quickly enough and run down any enemies running away from you. When you have infinity Edge you're already doing more damage than you would with Frozen mallet and your 10% passive on slowed enemies and have the crit, attack speed and movement speed as bonuses.

Basically, Talon's passive is absolutely useless early game except for the 2.5 seconds you have them slowed with your W or 3.5 seconds you have exhaust on them. Where it really comes into effect is late game and that's when you want to get Frozen Mallet to maximise your damage and give you needed survivability in big team fights.

By getting AS you're making more gold from farming. With Zeal you've got Crit, movement speed and attack speed for a reasonable amount(1195).

Remember, you'll be getting Frozen Mallet last!! When you get all six items(Doran's Blade, Boots, Phantom Dancer, Infinity Edge, Bloodthirster, Last Whisper) sell Droan's Blade and work on getting Frozen Mallet. Trust me on this, YOU DO NOT NEED FROZEN MALLET UNTILL END GAME.

Another thing about my item build: When you're working on Infinity Edge don't waste time and money in getting Cloak of Agility. Rather, if you have Pickaxe save up and buy Bastard Sword, completely bypassing Cloak of Agility. You have your crit already from Zeal, all you want to focus on while building Infinity Edge is Attack Damage.

Skill Sequence

One point in W first for escapes and slowing enemies for assault.

Q is the best ability Talon has. It deals a lot of damage and, when maxed out, has a 3 second cooldown and works extremely well with E for harassing enemies early game or taking chunks out of them at mid to late game so you want to focus on maxing that out ASAP.

W and E have long, VERY long, cooldowns and shouldn't be considered your primary abilities for damage. It's all about your Q as you'll deal a hell of a lot more damage with it than either W or E and is great for split second damage(E -> Q -> Run).

Summoner Spells

Flash and Exhaust. Don't bother with anything else. Flash for getting out of combat or chasing down enemies(Wonderful if you're just out of range of someone to use your E). Exhaust is great for late game against tanky champions or if you're trying to escape.

Summary

Be careful with Talon. While he is good he is fragile, very fragile. He's a farmer with this build but can be very helpful as he has the run speed to get to allies if need be.

Remember he's an assassin so don't gamble too much or you will see yourself die a lot. He's capable of dealing mass amounts of damage and literally taking down any caster or ranged DPS such as Brand, Malzahar, Ashe and Miss Fortune in a split second(Literally) regardless of how well they're equiped.

I'm not the best player out there, I do rage and I do mess up or get greedy but this build seems pretty solid for me and, to be honest, I think it could work for most melee or ranged AD champions.

Tips

Never initiate team fights(Duh).

DON'T Q BEFORE YOU E!!! ((Q is an instant attack!! If you melee first then Q you WILL get three hits in the space of one attack with the bonus damage from Q!))

Engage team fights two to three seconds later.

Choose your target.

Avoid tanky champions if you can(Talon is very fragile)!

Be careful of Area of Effect champions during team battles(Brand, Morgana, etc.)

Make sure you keep your ulti available for team fights for escape.

Don't be afraid to jump into a team fight, take down your target then run away. You'll be better off running out after the kill and running back in when you have ATLEAST W and Q up and clean up the enemy champions. If you stay in you'll more than likely die and be useless to your team.

Thanks!

Thanks for reading and I hope you get some use out of this guide. It's my first so be kind. :P